Guys, for those of you participating in ED dog fighting in the VR environment, how do you find it as compared to using a monitor? I assume it takes getting used to, but in the end is it easier, harder, about the same? I assume in the VR environment you have better visibility of the target as far as looking over your shoulder at least with the flight decks that allow you to see behind you or at least to your side.

It's much easier, you naturally follow the enemy ship with your eyes. Without VR you're generally just looking ahead.

Similar thing for driving games, too. I recently got a steering wheel so I could play racing sims, and you just follow the corner with your eyes as if you were in a real car. It's not something you have to think about, you already know how to do it. Being able to focus instantly on any part of the scene always beats having a fixed viewpoint.

It's much easier, you naturally follow the enemy ship with your eyes. Without VR you're generally just looking ahead.

Similar thing for driving games, too. I recently got a steering wheel so I could play racing sims, and you just follow the corner with your eyes as if you were in a real car. It's not something you have to think about, you already know how to do it. Being able to focus instantly on any part of the scene always beats having a fixed viewpoint.

Click to expand...

Using a monitor, and I lost sight of the enemy, I used the sensor thingy, with the dots representing ships and turned in the shortest direction to reacquire. I just don't remember how big of a wind screen I had, remembering it as not having any ability to look over your shoulder, but that is in the Cobra. I don't remember if the Eagle was better in this regard, but as I recall, the Cobra had better armor.

Yes, you can't see much behind you due to the bulkhead but above / below / sides are all good.

I prefer ships with a lot of glass in the cockpit - Asp for exploring, Vulture for combat and Type 9 for trading. You get a great view in all of those. I saved for ages to buy a Python once, was really expensive but I hated the narrow letterbox canopy so I sold it almost immediately.

What I did right at the start, before VR, was print a diagram of my controllers that I found online, print the entire control mappings prefs file and cut it up so I had all the button labels. Then I tacked the labels onto it so I could move them around until I got something comfortable and I had a reference sheet I could look at.

This is all second nature now, so in VR it feels great. I chose the CH throttle because it has a mini joystick for looking around, but now that I use Oculus I have the thrusters mapped to the mini stick, which is even better - ideal for soft landings and VR acrobatics. Now I have an 8-way hat switch that was previously used for thrusters, currently unassigned. Also the headlook reset button is no longer required, so these controllers have far more buttons than Elite actually requires.

To access the panels I hold down on hat 1 on the throttle, which is on the back under my index finger, then press hat 2 with my thumb in the direction of the panel I want to look at. It's very quick, I was using this system before VR. Alternatively, the default setting has the panels pop up when you look in their direction (I didn't like that at all).

Honestly, the CH controllers are so good, I can't recommend them highly enough. Plain, simple, no gimmicks, no flashing lights or breakable parts, more buttons than you'll ever need, and they're the only ones with that mini joystick. I also have the pedals.

Plenty of people use Xbox controllers though, it's perfectly workable in VR.

Well I went ahead and moved my P3D install to my external HD and reinstalled Elite. Yeah they certainly made the AI guys more challenging after over a year of not playing Elite. My Vulture used to be able to own almost any ship outside of the Anaconda. Now Imperial Clippers and Federal Dropships are a struggle if I go in alone.

Click to expand...

Based on this comment from a while back, how would you all, who are dog fighting now, say the A.I. is?

What they need with OR is the ability to toggle this image on and off in your headset, in case you need a reminder.

--- Post Merged, Sep 15, 2017 ---

Based on this comment from a while back, how would you all, who are dog fighting now, say the A.I. is?

Click to expand...

Up to 2.2, the AI was fairly easy (not helped by some bugs, including one where some targets would just stop and spin to let you shoot them unopposed).

2.2 added a lot of AI improvements, and also they have access to Engineer upgrades. In the 2.2 Betas, they were pretty insane, so had to be dialled back a bit. They're still much smarter, use FA off to turn faster, use heat-sinks or chaff a lot more to break target lock (and drive your weapons crazy if you use gimballed or turreted weapons), use shield-cell-boosters to refresh their shields, and have access to Engineered weapons/shields etc.

So they're much more of a challenge than in 2.1, but a lot easier than they were in early 2.2 builds; especially if you (like most people) Engineer your own ship.

Up to 2.2, the AI was fairly easy (not helped by some bugs, including one where some targets would just stop and spin to let you shoot them unopposed).

2.2 added a lot of AI improvements, and also they have access to Engineer upgrades. In the 2.2 Betas, they were pretty insane, so had to be dialled back a bit. They're still much smarter, use FA off to turn faster, use heat-sinks or chaff a lot more to break target lock (and drive your weapons crazy if you use gimballed or turreted weapons), use shield-cell-boosters to refresh their shields, and have access to Engineered weapons/shields etc.

So they're much more of a challenge than in 2.1, but a lot easier than they were in early 2.2 builds; especially if you (like most people) Engineer your own ship.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info!
The last time I logged into ED was a while back, I got my ass kicked in the the extraction zone. What bothered me is that everything seemed to be good, accumulating bounties, but then it all went to hell. Possible I accidentally hit one of the Federalies, and I got the **** kicked out of me before I could vamoose.

Thanks for the info!
The last time I logged into ED was a while back, I got my ass kicked in the he extraction zone. What bothered me is that everything seemed to be good, accumulating bounties, but then it all went to hell. Possible I accidentally hit one of the Federalies, and I got the **** **** out of me before I could vamoose.

Click to expand...

Hah. Yeah, hitting the security services will finish you fairly quickly if you're not good at running.

They did put in a 'fix' a while back, if you hit "Ship A" while you have "Ship B" targeted, it'll treat it as an accidental shot and ignored, unless it happens repeatedly/do too much damage. It just means if a ship flies across your line of fire and you tag it, they'll be a bit more forgiving.

Hah. Yeah, hitting the security services will finish you fairly quickly if you're not good at running.

They did put in a 'fix' a while back, if you hit "Ship A" while you have "Ship B" targeted, it'll treat it as an accidental shot and ignored, unless it happens repeatedly/do too much damage. It just means if a ship flies across your line of fire and you tag it, they'll be a bit more forgiving.

Yeah, but if you don't really like wearing a VR Headset, this is the way to go...

Click to expand...

But you are also getting 3D with VR along with a half a world/sphere view. I'm amazed in Gunjack when I looked down at about 70 degrees below level and drones were climbing to attack. My neck is getting a workout!

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.